AMN /
The Centre is examining the letter written to it by the Tamil Nadu government regarding the release of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassins from jail. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha that the Supreme Court has already given its decision on the matter. The Home Minister said now it is the Constitutional and moral responsibility of the government to abide by the decision of apex court.
Raising the issue, Mallikarjun Kahrge of the Congress demanded that the letter should not be entertained at all. He said, the assassins must not be released to uphold integrity of the country.
On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the Home Ministry seeking its opinion on releasing seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The letter stated that while the state has already decided to release the seven convicts, it is necessary to seek the Centre’s opinion under Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The letter said that the Tamil Nadu government had received petitions from all seven convicts who are Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and Nalini requesting that they be released since they had spent 24 years in prison. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 by LTTE. The Supreme Court had said that Tamil Nadu cannot free the convicts without consulting the Centre.